Defiance, Ohio

My week of substantial yet not overbearing work was capped off by a busy Friday. I didn't have to stay very late, but I was trying to get to Detroit to help a friend of a friend who was in an election to receive grant money for a community arts project. Google Maps completely failed me in trying to find the place. Driving aimlessly around Detroit is quite enjoyable - but not when I'm trying to get somewhere. By the time I made it, my friend and his buddies were hanging around outside and the voting was officially over. Of course, I felt bad showing up late but the guy won the election (by a landslide it turns out.) Shortly after I got there everyone walked a couple blocks away to the alleyway that will be the focus of the proposed project. In the two lots across from the guy's house he is planning to build a gallery of sorts. We hung around for a few hours checking out the graffiti that local artists had been doing until it started getting dark and my friend had to give someone a ride home. After dropping him off, we made our way to the Majestic where we were meeting up with some other people to see Defiance, Ohio.

Having previously only ever been to the well-known strip of restaurants in Mexicantown, but surrounded by the more authentic looking eateries, I asked my friend if he knew of a particularly good place I could maybe return to some day for dinner. He told me of one restaurant whose name he couldn't remember, but added that what I really needed to try was a taco truck. With a little time to spare, we drove around in search of one. It was exactly what it sounds like: a portable kitchen of sorts with a window for placing your order. This was nothing like the kind of thing you'd see at a carnival, excepting that it was on wheels. While waiting for our food, we noticed a sign taped just above the cooler along the side of the truck that said "PLEASE DO NOT USE THE PARKING LOT AS A RESTROOM. FAMILY NEIGHBORHOOD - POLICE RESTRICTION". If you can fight the urge to publicly relieve yourself, at $1.25 a taco, the taste to cost ratio is extremely high. Next time I'm in town I'll be stopping again, maybe to try a quesadilla or a mexican sandwich. A lady and her child who had ordered just before us were waiting too and one of the guys working in the truck reached out the window and handed the child a sucker. The sincerity of his smile was a perfectly authentic compliment to the experience.

I ate my tacos in the car as we drove back to Woodward. The Majestic Complex was swarming with people inside and out. Of the hundreds there, I was surprised and happy that I didn't know anyone. My friend, however, ran into lots of people that he had to stop and talk to while I tagged along and didn't bother with trying to make new friends. We made our way into the Cafe where Defiance, Ohio was still setting up. We found ourselves at the back of a packed room, surrounded by hippies. The dreadlock count was surprisingly low, though I immediately lost concern over the fact that I was wearing poor deodorant. After a couple songs someone from behind us ran to the front of the stage and instigated a pit. Like a light bulb turning on I was taken back to my days of attending punk shows and excitedly jumped into the crowd. Never before had I slam-danced to a band whose songs I didn't already recognize, but it felt like the appropriate way to enjoy the show. It was obvious that most of the crowd was there for this one band, though they weren't the main act. After their last song and a few minutes of continued applause, I started an "encore" chant that everyone immediately picked up on. The guys who were taking down their equipment gave us a look that said "there's nothing we can do", and I muttered to myself, "so much for grassroots movements." We stuck around to see I, Crime, but they were unexciting and after a couple songs we decided to take off. On the way out I noticed they had cool looking shirts for sale, but in the end that just isn't enough.